Music & Memory Surpasses Milestone of 3K Certified Organizations

Music & Memory has reached yet another milestone. The non-profit organization -- which trains nursing homes, assisted living and other care facilities how to use personalized music to improve the quality of life for people with a wide range of cognitive and physical conditions -- now has more than three thousand organizations across the U.S., Canada, Australia and Europe that have completed certification to offer this life-altering program.

In just the past eight months, Music & Memory has added one thousand new facilities, as the program continues to demonstrate the therapeutic benefits of personalized music: better moods, improved family visits, a calmer social environment and deepened relationships with staff.

Since its founding in 2010, Music & Memory has grown significantly. Thanks in part to a Sundance Audience Award-winning documentary "Alive Inside," about Music & Memory's work, the program became the standard of care in a thousand facilities between 2010 and 2014. Just one year later, Music & Memory was implemented in another thousand facilities, as state health and aging departments, led by Wisconsin, began to adopt the program. By July of 2016, the program surpassed three thousand facilities. This trend is expected to continue.

Growing evidence supports field observations that personalized music offers a viable alternative to antipsychotic medications for nursing home residents. A recent study by Brown University researchers documented reduced behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in nursing home residents with Alzheimer's and related cognitive and physical conditions who participated in a Music & Memory program.

As interest and news of success stories continue to grow, Music & Memory's personalized music program is spreading to a wide range of care settings, including hospices, adult day health centers, home health care and hospitals. In Australia, the personalized music program was introduced last year to aged-care organizations by the Arts Health Institute, a Music & Memory partner and now is offered in many acute healthcare services and hospital dementia units.

Music & Memory announces its expansion just in front of National Alzheimer's Month (November). In 1983, President Ronald Reagan declared November as National Alzheimer's Month to raise awareness, support and recognize the nearly 2 million Americans impacted by this disease. Today, more than 5.4 million Americans have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and more than 15 million people care for Alzheimer's and dementia patients across the country. For more information on how to become involved, visit musicandmemory.org.